Cinders even still burned, a crater left in place for what was once one of the most elaborate restaurants in Kugane. The depths of the underground entertainment stage had been consumed in the flame just as well, leaving naught but a space that acted like a graveyard for the fallen that met their end on that fateful night. The force of the Sekiseigumi had been swift in answering the call of the fire – yet, it had been far too late. By the time any soul took witness to what had befallen the others, nothing remained but ash and bone.
A bouquet of flowers cradled upon her arms as she approached. Two guards – under the guise of Hingan mercenaries based tightly in their haori and sandals – walked at a distanced trail, keeping eye on those along the path as their mistress approached the vicinity and beheld the damage for the first time since her cohort’s escape. All was quiet in the surroundings – postings implanted around to keep others mindful of the danger of being on unstable ground. Yet, the unstable ground was black, hardened and void of any hint of life. A true display of destruction.
Ring, ring. Even in times of melancholy, her linkpearl never ceased.
“Lady Haillenarte, I do hope you know that you are being watched.”
Her heart galloped inside of her chest at the voice. As she stood in the blackened ground, her eyes narrowed at the sound, and her voice faded behind the weight of gravitas that sought to take hold of her figure. The other end chuckled, a masculine, ripe sound of amusement.
“No greeting for me? We were growing so close, I believed. We nearly perished together above the Basin, even. Or do you not remember me breaking an arm to protect you when the airship shifted?”
Intuition told her to say nothing. To simply listen as the husky voice of the Garlean Praefectus continued to speak – cruelty dripping from every onze of his tongue. Her eyes glared back over her shoulder, flitting from left to right to observe her surroundings and finding absolutely nothing but the graveyard of the dead.
“Lady Padma told me you were so much smarter than that. That you were focused upon the future. You held no care for either side of the war, you wanted to build something substantial for your family. I respected that. I respected you.”
As long as he were willing to speak, she knew. She would remain alive to hear it. The arms of the Elezen descended to place the flowers upon the grave site – her eyes glinting as something is seen in the midst of the crumbled ashes. With a stretch of her fingers, she picked up a piece of paper, observing the drawing on the edge. Aether bled off of the paper’s surface, magic interwoven within the sheets to protect it during the worst. Blood splatters layered across the image, dried prints covering the face of a little girl smiling. The Elezen hitched her breath, lifting the picture to her chest to embrace it while her face contorted in tearful regret.
“We would have been such wonderful partners, Lady Haillenarte. But, you’ve chosen your side, and I shall indeed protect mine. Continue to supply our enemies with Skysteel weaponry, and I will be unable to protect you, dear. You’d like to continue to explore the beautiful corners of Kugane, wouldn’t you? Tell me, are you even apologetic for what transpired under your watch? If it were me, I would’ve never allowed my people to act like such thugs.”
“Enough, Praefectus Valvus…” Her words are whispered out, standing, and turning quickly towards the edges of the pathway. Her footsteps echoed as she departed from the scene, the voice on the line chuckling to finally rouse a tone from the Ishgardian noble.
“Now she speaks. My dear, you have not seen nearly enough of what happens to those that displease me. Ah, but you will. You most certainly will.”
The steps have quickened to a run. Driving her as far from the place as possible, her hand ripped the linkpearl from her ear and cast it aside into the nearest river as soon as the opportunity rose. A new frequency and replacement would be the first on her list of priority, but after paying her respects, she knew to no longer embark on the shores of Kugane without adamant protection. Protection she required – hands who would not be afraid to strike and kill as need be.
“If it is war you wish for, Praefectus, it is war I shall give you.”
quest development: the spiritual journeys of reika titov (1)
this post is kind of gigantic, but for the purpose of this series, moving through the arc development is best, since we have already covered arc development with theia, but for this series we need to establish what this character’s arcs are like for the quest set development i am about to do to make very much sense.
so without further ado... ^_^
(tw/cw for abuse and lesbophobia)
Book 1: The Aspen Tree
1► It’s hard to believe, but this part of your life actually happened.
This Arc is about Reika making herself the villain, and trying her best to see it as something amazing and cool. She goes through lots of failed schemes, lots of villainy that ends up more heroic, that she tries to justify through some vague stupid excuse that makes it seem like she’s not just doing it to be nice.
But she starts to get sick of that whole thing. She starts to process the fact that it really isn’t for her, even though she wants it to be.: But she starts to get sick of that whole thing. She starts to process the fact that it really isn’t for her, even though she wants it to be.
Oki, so widely expanding on that basic idea -
This book starts a little while after Reika became the Darkweaver, maybe a year. She has spent the past year really acclimating herself to what things are like now – her new powers, her basic experience as a Dark Walker, etc. She has mostly kept to herself during that time period, and has decided to really re-enter society. I am thinking that she might even start trying to attend school, but after being out for a year, things are very messy.
There is a lot of rumour and stuff about what Reika was doing during her gap year. Lots of these rumours are very bad, and lead to her being kind of socially shunned. Reika tries to involve herself in [insert school club here], but things keep getting ruined by very very messy stuff. Reika gets shoved into the role of a villain, and tries to live up to the role, but then after a big scheme where she really hurts someone, Reika realizes that maybe being a villain is not what she really wants. She decides that when she graduates high school, she will change everything about herself completely and become a hero. A redefinition, in essence.
Quest 1: Reika tries to get involved in [insert school club here]. She throws herself full-force into it. But everything keeps getting interrupted. Everyone keeps side-eying Reika, and she gets dragged into messy villainous stuff. She gets a bad reputation, and the club stuff by the end of this quest starts to seem very very messy and unworkable. This quest ends when Reika decides that if everyone is going to call her a villain, she might as well become one.
Quest 2: Reika throws herself into a big villainous scheme, I am thinking that it is probably something involving the Child of the Sun, who is part of some School-adjacent group. Maybe this scheme involves kidnapping her at an alumnus gala and doing something magically to seal her away to blot out the sun, or basically kill her in a symbolic way. This definitely visually involves shooting her with a bow and arrow. I think that Reika teams up with some sort of vampire alliance to do this, or rather that she is doing it for them. This quest ends when she does it and then the Headmaster of the Bleak Academy appears at her door to try to recruit her to the Bleak Academy. (This is, of course, deeply upsetting, along with the damage she just did to things.)
Quest 3: This quest gets very very psychological, as the labyrinth in it is completely Reika's troubled mindscape. This is represented by a complex puzzle box that she drew out of the Child of the Sun when she did whatever she did to her. In her final weeks of school, Reika works desperately to solve the puzzle and pass her classes, with the hope that the puzzle box will contain the answers she needs. When it comes down to it, the puzzle box is empty, and that is its own kind of answer. The answer that she is going to have to figure it all out herself.
Book 2: Oleander and Rosebay
2► There’s some illusion or trick here.
So then Reika tries her best to be nice. She tries her best to be more like a hero, even though society is trying its best to make her be a villain. She just wants you to like her! That’s all she really wants! But it’s all hard.
During this Arc, she befriends a boy around her age named Mikhail Nemetov. His family is abusive, and Reika empathizes with him, and spends a big portion of the Arc trying to help him get out of his bad situation. They kind of have a bit of a romance, and Reika really connects with Mikhail. He becomes her only friend.
And then Mikhail reveals his true intentions. He isn’t a sweet, shy teenage boy. (Well, he is still a teenage boy, but…) He’s a powerful enemy of the world, an Excrucian Deceiver, who created a family for himself to create a situation to lure Reika in, to gain her trust, so that he could do his best to convert her to his cause, to recruit her into a war against the world.
So to expand upon this -
Reika has finished her second-to-last year of high school. This book is set during her vacation. She's know as a hardcore villain for what she did to the Child of the Sun, but she's at this point very much not sure that was really what she wanted to do.
Reika decides that she is going to become a hero. She (of course) does not process how impossible this will be, given who she is.
Early on in this book she meets a sad boy her age named Mikhail Nemetov. His family is abusive, and this story centers a lot on Reika's romance with him, or rather, his courtship of her. She falls for it hook, line, and sinker because she is comphet-ing, and because he is one of the only people in her life who accepts her as a hero. Mikhail sees her as a hero first and foremost even, and what villain looking for redemption wouldn't obsess over the person who sees her as completely who she wants to be.
This book really builds up to the reveal that Mikhail is not the sweet, shy boy Reika sees him as, but that he is an Excrucian Deciever who created a false family for himself to lure Reika in and gain her trust, so that he could try to recruit her into a war against the world.
Quest 1: Reika gets excited about being a hero. She posits lots of ways that it could work. She meets Mikhail. She starts to crush on Mikhail. This quest is kind of just a glorious exploration of Reika's decision, but even it has a dark side. This quest ends when Reika makes a full decision to help Mikhail out of his abusive household.
Quest 2: This is about Reika helping Mikhail get out of his situation, and is very focused on their romance set-up. Reika does cool stuff, and ultimately, Reika gets Mikhail out of his abusive situation. This is accompanied by romantic music and confetti raining from the sky! (That may or may not be literal.)
Quest 3: I am thinking that this is about Reika unknowingly navigating Mikhail's complicated trap. Throughout this whole quest, Reika is not aware that Mikhail is dangerous (despite overwhelming signs). It is clear to the audience, with lots of dramatic irony, but it is something that Reika does not at all catch onto. This is basically their full-on relationship set-up, or rather explicitly Mikhail's seduction of Reika. This quest and book ends with them dating, and Reika in some deep ways under his sway.
Book 3: The Ebony Tree and the Shrike
3► There’s something that rings false about the threats you face here.
Reika traverses a literal labyrinth in this Arc. It’s a representation of her tangled-up emotions, the way she’s majorly torn between two ways of life – the life of a hero and the life of a villain, the Reika who is and the Reika who the world expects her to be. Mikhail is trying to corrupt her, and make her into a villain, which symbolizes in a way the world’s expectations of Reika.
She reaches the center of the labyrinth, defeats Mikhail, and then she decides to just be who she wants to be, even if that’s not totally something consistent, and even if she can’t figure out how to make it work. She decides to just live for herself instead of listening to what people tell her to be.
To expand -
Quest 1: This is about Reika's new relationship. This is about her “bliss” with Mikhail. He's come into a lot of money he inherited from an old aunt or something. She is constantly on his arm, and he is constantly buying her fancy things, showing her off. Reika starts to think that maybe her shortcut into society could be through Mikhail. There is also, I think, a hasty proposal. But then as the honeymoon period starts to wear off, she starts to see the problems. She starts to see that things might not be as good as she is thinking, but none of it is really enough for a full indictment yet. Just enough to make her question.
Quest 2: Reika starts cheating on Mikhail with a girl. The girl does not like Mikhail, and tries to do her best to get Reika to dump him, but Reika insists that Mikhail is all she has. Meanwhile, Mikhail is really trying to influence and corrupt Reika. He is performing a flower rite with the goal of shoving an excruciated estate into her and making her a mimic. Mikhail tells her about his plans at the end of this quest – attracting dangerous attention and being praised by an enemy – but with how she's been during her secret affair, Reika actually starts to really deeply “what the fuck” about Mikhail.
Quest 3: This is Reika trying to get out of the cage of Mikhail's grooming and love. Reika trying to break out of things before Mikhail finishes his Flower Rite and uses her as the tool he needs to fight the world. This quest culminates with Reika breaking up with Mikhail before he finishes the Flower Rite, and deciding to stick her nose into stopping him.
Quest 4: This is a slow race towards the end of the Flower Rite, but every fight with Mikhail is a chance to be drawn back in again. This is Reika's confused flurry with everything on the line. And it ends with Reika stopping Mikhail from his Flower Rite, but he gets away.
Book 4: The Abraxas Rose
4► The trick is about to be revealed.
Reika embarks on a great quest, something very very upwards. I am leaning towards something that other heroes and villains are striving for as well. Something very mythic and Greek. She’s decided that this is the sort of thing she does these days. She’s decided that this is who she is. But what she’s not letting on is that part of her motivation is that she wants people to see her as a hero for doing this. She wouldn’t admit it, but somewhere in her subconscious, that’s the reason why.
Reika reaches the target, completes the quest, is the one to complete it, before anyone else can, and because of it, she starts to become a bit more confident in herself, in her decision to be who she wants to be. She starts to get a bit more sure of herself, and returns home with her prize (which I’m conceptualizing as some sort of artifact or something).
To expand -
This new version very much involves the fact that Mikhail is still out there, and now that Reika is out of his grasp, he's just going to try to do this with another girl. This also involves the mythic hero quest that Reika thinks will help people see as a hero. She doesn't want to admit it, but that's a big part of what's going on. Yes, the actions she's taking are good, but they're by no means done for pure reasons. Parts of it are even motivated by hate and petty revenge.
This book ends with Reika killing Mikhail in what is presumably saving the world, and the fanfare that comes along with this, or rather, the presumed fanfare.
Quest 1: With Mikhail gone, Reika searches for a heroic quest she can take on to become a hero, to be treated as one. This quest has a lot of Reika trying out various tasks, the beginnings of several failed adventures that go wrong in Reika's trademark messy and not-totally-morally-good style. This quest ends with Reika finding out a large conspiracy with Mikhail at its center.
Quest 2: This quest focuses a lot on Reika fighting and investigating the shadowy organization Abraxas, which is basically Mikhail's mysterious villainous organization. She takes lots of decisive action, and starts to get to the bottom of the whole conspiracy, but then this quest ends when Mikhail comes back into Reika's life, asking her to join him in his schemes, and she pretty much falls for it.
Quest 3: This quest centers on Reika's time inside of Abraxas, trying to get out of Mikhail's clutches yet again. This quest has a lot of focus on the metaphorical labyrinth that is the internal politics of Abraxas, and on the labyrinth that is Reika's emotions. I am thinking that there is another girl who is Mikhail's intended vessel. Reika starts to fall in love with her, and kind of starts to realize that she needs to save her from Mikhail. This quest ends with Reika really properly challenging Mikhail and him fleeing to the spiritual realms with the girl, goading Reika into chasing him.
Quest 4: This quest focuses a lot on Reika's emotional state as she explores the spiritual realms in search for clues about Mikhail's whereabouts. At times, she considers leaving the other girl to Mikhail, but knows that in the long run that would make things worse. This quest culminates in Reika finding the location of Mikhail's chapel, and making preparations to descend into it.
Quest 5: This is Reika's final descent into Mikhail's chapel, her final descent into the maelstrom. Her final fight with Mikhail, her final challenge in breaking away from him. This quest is also very focused on the fact that Reika is very conceptually lost by the idea of ending everything with Mikhail. The fact that she uses her opposition to him as a sort of identity of her own, a place in the world, and that without him, that identity will be lost. And then deep in Mikhail's chapel, Reika and Mikhail fight one final battle, and she kills him in a moment of intense emotional catharsis.
Book 5: Wormwood's Flight
5► ...and it’s going to change everything.
Reika thought the hero-quest would make people like her, thought that they would start to see her as a hero because of it, but she was wrong. She’d been telling herself she was going to just do what she wanted to do, but she can’t help but get all caught up in what people think of her. She gets really depressed, and during this time has some weird, dark adventures that are a metaphor for her mental state. She gets hurt a lot, and fails a lot, and several times nearly dies.
Then she actually dies, and is brought back by an outside force, then has to work to recapture her Blasphemy, shove it back inside of her and save everyone.
After that transcendence of death, Reika takes a new lease on life. In the afterlife she saw something that really changes how she viewed things, that really changes how things work for her. She finds something there that allows her to actually live for herself and be happy. I think it’s likely rooted in the fact that she has a circle of friends already, but doesn’t really realize it. She has people who care about her. She just hasn’t noticed that they all actually care deeply about her. She’s had these people for a while, but her own thought processes have been holding her back. So then she lives for herself, and take care of her friends, and is happy.
To expand -
This is the point where Reika really has to face how lost she is. She thought she would be a hero, but the world is calling her fight with Mikhail an empty lover's quarrel. Despite having broken free of Mikhail, society still defines her by her relationship with him. And this is basically the story of how Reika breaks free of society's definitions of herself, which is also a coming out metaphor that is also literal.
Quest 1: This quest focuses on Reika trying to enjoy her Mikhail-free life, but shadows and ghosts that represent both the shadow of Mikhail in her life, and society's perceptions of her haunt her. Reika tries to be excited about her life, but keeps getting brought down again, especially by the fact that society isn't treating her as the hero like she wanted. Society is treating her like an accessory. I mean, the parts of it that are not treating her as Mikhail's co-conspirator. After all, she is the girl who put out the sun for a while after trying to kill the Child of the Sun. This quest ends with Reika really losing sight of all the ways her life has improved and falling into despair.
Quest 2: This quest centers on Reika trying to do her own thing and ignore all of her problems. This quest is a time of false celebration and forced smiles. This quest is that confused attempt to say that your abuse didn't hurt you, in a vain attempt to avoid being defined by it. This quest closes on Reika having a dream of Mikhail telling her he's proud of her, and the whole thing feels to real, to the level where she wakes up crying and wondering if maybe he didn't really die.
Quest 3: This quest is about Reika trying to make sense of everything, trying to get to the bottom of the whether or not Mikhail is alive. A part of this is fueled by a desire to have him gone, but a big part of it also is fueled by a fucked-up sense of love. The desire to fix things, to make him better. The desire to kill him again and thus excise things forever. And then Reika finds her answers at the end of this quest. She realizes that Mikhail is dead, but a part of him will always be with her, because that shared abuse experience is never going to go away, no matter how much she wishes she could get rid of it.
Quest 4: This quest is about Reika taking it upon herself to take out the remains of Abraxas, ending it all once for all. This quest goes to a lot of very dark places, because Reika is still lost, even though she has come to terms with her history with Mikhail in a way. The scars still remain, and her life still hasn't been pieced back together, but this is maybe a last chance. This quest also delves a bit into some history, and addresses the fact that Reika still thinks she loves him, but that love is realistically a way of clinging to something that feels real. This quest ends when she fights the new leader of Abraxas and dies.
Quest 5: This quest is Reika's time outside of the world, primarily, her time dead. This quest is a time of painful transcendance. This quest is when Reika realizes that she doesn't love Mikhail, and that she never loved him. This quest is when Reika realizes that she's a lesbian. This quest is when Reika realizes that the world doesn't matter, and that the world doesn't get to tell her who she is, because she is the only one who gets to define that sort of thing. And then Reika returns to the world, pulls the shadows back into her kicking and screaming, comes out as gay, and finally starts living.
next time we will be going over how i convert these arc writeups into a distinct quest set for telling these stories! ^_^
@dailysickvictini Tony: You keep talking about your stupid boyfriend all the time and I haven't seen him once! Where the distortion world is he!
Snow: my boyfriend Blaze is over there chatting with princess Blue. so sir please watch your attitude near the princess, yes i talk about him quite a lot but now i figured out the camera on my poke-phone to where i can do timed shots. the princess seems nice, Blaze is sweet so he’ll be perfect to talk with the princess. there is a nice amount of sunlight coming in through the window right now.
quest development: the spiritual journeys of reika titov (6)
and this is the last part! (meta-data still pending, and at this point it might end up its own separate post when i put it together)
5: The Descent
You’re doing rough, terrible work. You’re facing hard truths of death, guilt, embodiment, meaning, identity, and failure.
Result: you complete the work; you can go on with your life.
Torn
You’re torn between two loyalties.
Result: you make a choice between them; if you’ve already done so, you come to an acceptance of it.
Quest 5-4: This is Reika's final descent into Mikhail's chapel, her final descent into the maelstrom. Her final fight with Mikhail, her final challenge in breaking away from him. This quest is also very focused on the fact that Reika is very conceptually lost by the idea of ending everything with Mikhail. The fact that she uses her opposition to him as a sort of identity of her own, a place in the world, and that without him
Quest 5-5: This quest is Reika's time outside of the world, primarily, her time dead. This quest is a time of painful transcendance. This quest is when Reika realizes that she doesn't love Mikhail, and that she never loved him. This quest is when Reika realizes that she's a lesbian. This quest is when Reika realizes that the world doesn't matter, and that the world doesn't get to tell her who she is, because she is the only one who gets to define that sort of thing. And then Reika returns to the world, pulls the shadows back into her kicking and screaming, comes out as gay, and finally starts living.
Major Concepts:
descent
lost without someone else
lost in general
realizing your were wrong about something that is at the core of your identity
finding a new identity
painful transcendance
isolation
a transcendant realization
interacting with dark spirits and creatures
living for yourself
an identity built around someone else
[[BLUE]]The Vast Ocean (40 XP)
The world has swallowed you up, but if you look inside of yourself, you might be able to crack its shell, to keep your head above the water, and move forward in your life.
You're alone. You're lost. You're in danger.
But it's not danger and loss and loneliness without meaning. At the end of it you see a shining light. This feels like the end of something, even if it isn't the end of it all.
The HG can grant you 5 XP towards this quest when:
you fall from a great height;
you transcend the world or your body, even if only for a few moments;
you experience a moment of perfect emotional clarity;
you realize something life-changing about your perceptions or your identity.
Once per chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:
[[SILVER]]feel lost and alone;
[[ORANGE]][[GOLD]]feel intense pain (either emotional or physical);
[[BLUE]][[SILVER]]descend into a dark place;
[[PURPLE]][[GREEN]]converse with a dark and dangerous entity of some sort;
[[BLACK]]find yourself adrift on a dark ocean (probably in a dream or imagination spot);
[[RED]]put on a disguise or costume;
[[PURPLE]][[SILVER]]treat yourself to something lovely or calming;
quest development: the spiritual journeys of reika titov (4)
this is coming along relatively nicely, i think ^_^
3: You’re in a confusing situation! You must traverse a labyrinth, maze, or noir mystery. Or, if not literally any of these, that’s what it feels like!
Reward. You’ve cut through the confusion. You’ve found what you needed to know, and either:
Tied everything up neatly with a bow; or
You’ve got your eyes on your prize and you know where to go but you’ve got a ways to go before you actually get it.
Quest 3-1: This quest gets very very psychological, as the labyrinth in it is completely Reika's troubled mindscape. This is represented by a complex puzzle box that she drew out of the Child of the Sun when she did whatever she did to her. In her final weeks of school, Reika works desperately to solve the puzzle and pass her classes, with the hope that the puzzle box will contain the answers she needs. When it comes down to it, the puzzle box is empty, and that is its own kind of answer. The answer that she is going to have to figure it all out herself.
Quest 3-2: I am thinking that this is about Reika unknowingly navigating Mikhail's complicated trap. Throughout this whole quest, Reika is not aware that Mikhail is dangerous (despite overwhelming signs). It is clear to the audience, with lots of dramatic irony, but it is something that Reika does not at all catch onto. This is basically their full-on relationship set-up, or rather explicitly Mikhail's seduction of Reika. This quest and book ends with them dating, and Reika in some deep ways under his sway.
Quest 3-3: This is Reika trying to get out of the cage of Mikhail's grooming and love. Reika trying to break out of things before Mikhail finishes his Flower Rite and uses her as the tool he needs to fight the world. This quest culminates with Reika breaking up with Mikhail before he finishes the Flower Rite, and deciding to stick her nose into stopping him.
Quest 3-4: This quest centers on Reika's time inside of Abraxas, trying to get out of Mikhail's clutches yet again. This quest has a lot of focus on the metaphorical labyrinth that is the internal politics of Abraxas, and on the labyrinth that is Reika's emotions. I am thinking that there is another girl who is Mikhail's intended vessel. Reika starts to fall in love with her, and kind of starts to realize that she needs to save her from Mikhail. This quest ends with Reika really properly challenging Mikhail and him fleeing to the spiritual realms with the girl, goading Reika into chasing him.
Quest 3-5: This quest is about Reika trying to make sense of everything, trying to get to the bottom of the whether or not Mikhail is alive. A part of this is fueled by a desire to have him gone, but a big part of it also is fueled by a fucked-up sense of love. The desire to fix things, to make him better. The desire to kill him again and thus excise things forever. And then Reika finds her answers at the end of this quest. She realizes that Mikhail is dead, but a part of him will always be with her, because that shared abuse experience is never going to go away, no matter how much she wishes she could get rid of it.
Major Concepts:
puzzles, especially puzzle boxes and jigsaw puzzles
dramatic irony
struggle against the bars of a cage
diving into the depths
sharing a kiss
emotional confusion
[[SILVER]]The Puzzle Box (45 XP)
There's a puzzle you're trying to put together. It involves you and your emotions, but it also involves other people. There's probably someone you're trying to help, or multiple someones.
You're thinking a lot too. You're conflicted and confused, and that's as much a part of the puzzle as anything else in your life.
You're not sure though if solving the puzzle will even finish the puzzle, or if maybe it will just deepen the mystery.
The HG can grant you 5 XP towards this quest when:
you dive into dark waters (or something of similar conceptual weight);
you wander unknowingly into a trap;
you share a kiss with someone you aren't emotionally close to (but who you ideally hope to one day become emotionally close to);
you free a bird from its golden cage.
Once per chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when you:
[[SILVER]][[RED]]work on a puzzle of some sort, primarily for distraction;
[[RED]]fidget with a large, ornate key;
[[BLACK]]struggle against the bars of a birdcage, possibly in a dream or imagination spot;
[[GOLD]][[RED]]find yourself confused about what your true feelings even are;
[[BLUE]][[GOLD]]search desperately for answers;
[[ORANGE]][[BLUE]]chase after a dark spirit or enemy;
[[PURPLE]][[ORANGE]]wonder if there's something you could have done to prevent the things that trouble you;
[[SILVER]]lie awake at night, pondering the patterns of light and shadow on your bedroom ceiling;
[[RED]][[BLACK]]experience something you don't quite understand IC, but that the OOC you and the other players have a clear understanding of.
quest development: the spiritual journeys of reika titov (3)
and now for the second quest! my apologies again for the lack of meta-data. i will probably be going back and editing it in later on these posts. ^_^
2: Taking Charge
You’re taking charge of a situation.
Result: an enemy/opponent praises you, threatens you in a vaguely flattering way, or tries to recruit you.
Your Way
You’re ignoring the pressures on you and just doing things your own way.
Result: you’ve attracted dangerous attention and/or trimmed down the problem to an approachable space. Usually it’s both, one during the quest and one when it ends.
Quest 2-1: Reika throws herself into a big villainous scheme, I am thinking that it is probably something involving the Child of the Sun, who is part of some School-adjacent group. Maybe this scheme involves kidnapping her at an alumnus gala and doing something magically to seal her away to blot out the sun, or basically kill her in a symbolic way. This definitely visually involves shooting her with a bow and arrow. I think that Reika teams up with some sort of vampire alliance to do this, or rather that she is doing it for them. This quest ends when she does it and then the Headmaster of the Bleak Academy appears at her door to try to recruit her to the Bleak Academy. (This is, of course, deeply upsetting, along with the damage she just did to things.)
Quest 2-2: This is about Reika helping Mikhail get out of his situation, and is very focused on their romance set-up. Reika does cool stuff, and ultimately, Reika gets Mikhail out of his abusive situation. This is accompanied by romantic music and confetti raining from the sky! (That may or may not be literal.)
Quest 2-3: Reika starts cheating on Mikhail with a girl. The girl does not like Mikhail, and tries to do her best to get Reika to dump him, but Reika insists that Mikhail is all she has. Meanwhile, Mikhail is really trying to influence and corrupt Reika. He is performing a flower rite with the goal of shoving an excruciated estate into her and making her a mimic. Mikhail tells her about his plans at the end of this quest – attracting dangerous attention and being praised by an enemy – but with how she's been during her secret affair, Reika actually starts to really deeply “what the fuck” about Mikhail.
Quest 2-4: This quest focuses a lot on Reika fighting and investigating the shadowy organization Abraxas, which is basically Mikhail's mysterious villainous organization. She takes lots of decisive action, and starts to get to the bottom of the whole conspiracy, but then this quest ends when Mikhail comes back into Reika's life, asking her to join him in his schemes, and she pretty much falls for it.
Quest 2-5: This quest centers on Reika trying to do her own thing and ignore all of her problems. This quest is a time of false celebration and forced smiles. This quest is that confused attempt to say that your abuse didn't hurt you, in a vain attempt to avoid being defined by it. This quest closes on Reika having a dream of Mikhail telling her he's proud of her, and the whole thing feels to real, to the level where she wakes up crying and wondering if maybe he didn't really die.
Major Concepts:
investigation
dreams
going against what people say
living your dreams or nightmares
giving your all
firing a bow and arrow
interacting with dark and dangerous things
witness something you do not understand
fake or exaggerate an emotional reaction
[[BLUE]]The Lens (40 XP)
The barriers between reality and fantasy are always thin around you, but for now, they're even thinner.
The things you want are in sight, and now isn't the time to question why you want them.
Now is the time for action and adventure!
The HG can grant you 5 XP towards this quest when:
a dream or nightmare becomes reality;
you play out an elaborate fantasy sequence of what you think your life will be like if only you could do successfully whatever it is you're doing. (This should typically be either comedic, tragic, or both);
things you didn't understand before start to more or less come into focus;
you fire a bow and arrow at an enemy (or perhaps a friend).
Once per chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest through:
[[SILVER]][[RED]]dreaming of the past or future;
[[BLUE]][[ORANGE]]doing something for no reason other than that you choose to;
[[GREEN]]parleying with dark and dangerous beings;
[[RED]][[BLACK]]witnessing something you do not understand;
[[BLACK]][[GREEN]]faking or exaggerating an emotional reaction;
[[BLUE]]taking decisive action against the problems you're facing in your life;
[[GOLD]][[SILVER]]exploring or investigating a place or experience;
[[ORANGE]][[GREEN]]accidentally playing into the hands of your enemies'
quest development: the spiritual journeys of reika titov (2)
today we will be focusing on the first quest of this quest set.
i apologize in advance if these notes are hard to read, or are boringly redundant with stuff you read in the first post. i kind of copy-pasted bits and pieces of the arc stuff to help with the quest building, but that stuff is definitely structurally important here since dissecting the arcs i wrote is a big part of this process, you know? ^_^
also, these are all going to lack some of the meta-data, because i am really bad at meta-data, and will probably end up putting that in way later.
The Spiritual Journeys of Reika Titov
1: You’re excited about the future. You’ve found or gotten involved in something neat!
Result: Bored now? Or still awesome? You’ve gotten used to it either way.
Quest 1-1: Reika tries to get involved in [insert school club here]. She throws herself full-force into it. But everything keeps getting interrupted. Everyone keeps side-eying Reika, and she gets dragged into messy villainous stuff. She gets a bad reputation, and the club stuff by the end of this quest starts to seem very very messy and unworkable. This quest ends when Reika decides that if everyone is going to call her a villain, she might as well become one.
Quest 1-2: Reika gets excited about being a hero. She posits lots of ways that it could work. She meets Mikhail. She starts to crush on Mikhail. This quest is kind of just a glorious exploration of Reika's decision, but even it has a dark side. This quest ends when Reika makes a full decision to help Mikhail out of his abusive household.
Quest 1-3: This is about Reika's new relationship. This is about her “bliss” with Mikhail. He's come into a lot of money he inherited from an old aunt or something. She is constantly on his arm, and he is constantly buying her fancy things, showing her off. Reika starts to think that maybe her shortcut into society could be through Mikhail. There is also, I think, a hasty proposal. But then as the honeymoon period starts to wear off, she starts to see the problems. She starts to see that things might not be as good as she is thinking, but none of it is really enough for a full indictment yet. Just enough to make her question.
Quest 1-4: With Mikhail gone, Reika searches for a heroic quest she can take on to become a hero, to be treated as one. This quest has a lot of Reika trying out various tasks, the beginnings of several failed adventures that go wrong in Reika's trademark messy and not-totally-morally-good style. This quest ends with Reika finding out a large conspiracy with Mikhail at its center.
Quest 1-5: This quest focuses on Reika trying to enjoy her Mikhail-free life, but shadows and ghosts that represent both the shadow of Mikhail in her life, and society's perceptions of her haunt her. Reika tries to be excited about her life, but keeps getting brought down again, especially by the fact that society isn't treating her as the hero like she wanted. Society is treating her like an accessory. I mean, the parts of it that are not treating her as Mikhail's co-conspirator. After all, she is the girl who put out the sun for a while after trying to kill the Child of the Sun. This quest ends with Reika really losing sight of all the ways her life has improved and falling into despair.
Major Concepts:
Allowing yourself to revel in something new
Worry
the dark side of your new adventure rears its ugly head
you get in a fight
someone chastizes you for your past actions
you feel a sense of freedom
you find yourself in a place of darkness and stars
you try to do something that will bring your reputation more in line with what you would like it to be, but it backfires terribly
[[BLUE]] The Birdcage (40 XP)
Something has changed in your life, or something is going to change soon. You're walking new paths, exploring new worlds, and for now, no one can stop you.
Eventually though, all of this is going to pile up and you're going to realize that this probably really wasn't quite such a good idea in the first place.
The HG can grant you 5 XP towards this quest when:
a bird takes wing in your heart, possibly in a dream or imagination spot;
you find yourself alone in a place of darkness and stars;
a friend or enemy shows you something dazzlingly beautiful;
you fight a duel in a place filled with roses.
Once per chapter, you can earn a bonus XP towards this quest when:
[[BLUE]][[GOLD]]you monologue while in a state of extreme emotion;
[[SILVER]][[GOLD]]a monologue of yours is interrupted by an important obligation;
[[RED]][[GREEN]]you are distracted from your negative emotions by something exciting or wondrous;
[[SILVER]][[PURPLE]]you dance in the moonlight, either alone or with someone else;
[[PURPLE]][[BLUE]]you argue passionately with someone who is distrustful of the new things in your life;
[[PURPLE]][[GREEN]]someone chastizes you for your past actions, but you're unaffected by their words;
[[RED]][[PURPLE]]someone chastizes you for your past actions, and you're affected deeply by their words;
[[ORANGE]][[GOLD]]something simple and honest you are doing is interrupted by the presence of something dark and fearsome;
[[BLACK]]the dark side of the new things in your life begins to make itself known.
